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Elena Gilbert (novel)
Elena Gilbert is Stefan Salvatore's soul-mate, girlfriend/fiancée, best friend of Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez, Matt Honeycutt's childhood friend, first love and ex-girlfriend, and Damon Salvatore's ultimate prize and possession. She is also the niece of Robert and Judith Maxwell and the elder sister of Margaret Gilbert. Physical Appearance Physical-appearance wise, Elena is described to be very beautiful. There are repeated references throughout the series that state that she looks like an "angel" or "angelic" in appearance. Physically, Elena is described as having an eye color which is the same color as Lapis Lazuli (a deep, dark blue). Her eyes also have flecks of gold in them; this is meant to be a parallel to the Lapis Lazuli rings that vampires (such as the Salvatore Brothers and Katherine) must wear in order to walk around in the sunlight as well as stay alive in the sunlight. In some scenes, her eyes are mentioned to have some shades of violet in them as well, as referenced in The Awakening, when she wears her violet-colored Homecoming Dance dress, which helps to "bring out the violet in her eyes". Elena's hair is described as long, thick and straight (reaching down to her waist), and is a soft pale gold in color. Her hair texture is described as silky and smooth. Her hair is said to be a few shades lighter than Katherine's. Her eyebrows and her long eyelashes are a darker blond. Her skin is described as being very fair (described to be similar to a magnolia flower) and opaque (which means that her blue veins and fjords are easily visible). Her complexion is smooth, flawless and translucent. Stefan has said that Elena's skin reminds him of swans, alabaster or porcelain. Because of her fair skin and complexion, Elena does not tan easily and can get easily sunburned. Elena is described to have a gorgeous body and her physique is described as being slim and slender. She is average height for a teenage girl (between 5'4" to 5'7") and Stefan has said that Elena is taller then Katherine (who was described as petite) by "a good hand span". In The Return: Shadow Souls, Elena describes her physical appearance as follows: "What do I look like? I have blonde hair that falls in sort of waves past my shoulders and blue eyes that some people have said are like Lapis Lazuli; dark blue with splashes of gold. Maybe that's why Vampires like me." Stefan has described Elena's physical appearance in The Awakening: Still, the resemblance was uncanny. That pale golden hair, so fair it almost seemed to shimmer. That creamy skin, which had always made him think of swans, or alabaster, flushing faintly pink over the cheekbones. And the eyes...Katherine's eyes had been a color he had never seen before; darker than sky blue, as rich as the Lapis Lazuli in her jeweled headband. This girl had the same eyes. Stefan has made comparisons between Elena and Katherine, due to the similarities in their physical appearance but Stefan realizes that beneath the looks, Elena and Katherine are completely different people (Stefan says that Elena is emotionally stronger and that Katherine was more fragile and vulnerable). It is because of Elena's physical resemblance to his old flame, Katherine, that Stefan makes all attempts to ignore Elena in the beginning because Elena reminds him of Katherine and brings up old and painful memories of his life with Katherine in the past. Elena's physical resemblance to Katherine is also the reason why Stefan's elder and dangerous brother, Damon, is also attracted to her and wants to possess her. Personality Description Personality-wise, Elena is described as being a beautiful and popular 17 year old high school girl from Fells Church, Virginia. Elena is basically the "Queen" of Robert E. Lee High School. She is the girl that every boy wants and every girl wants to be. She is likable, approachable and popular. Although, Elena may be beautiful and popular, she possesses some minor flaws in her personality. Elena does come off as a little shallow, self-absorbed, vain and a little spoiled, mostly in the beginning of the series. However, although she possesses these minor personality flaws, she is still a good person and a kind-hearted individual, who loves and cares about her family and her friends immensely. She is loyal, protective and strong-willed and is willing to sacrifice herself in order to save the people she loves. Elena has endured tragedy in her life with the loss of her parents in a fatal car accident. Elena has said that she always used boys as prizes and trophies and used them as a way to enhance her self-esteem. Although she had always generally treated boys as prizes, she never looked at Matt Honeycutt, her childhood best friend, first love and ex-boyfriend that way. She genuinely loves and cares about him. Matt always had a meaningful influence and significance on her life. Elena and Matt know each other better then anyone and even though Elena breaks up with Matt at the beginning of the school year, she still deeply loves and cares about him, like a best friend. Elena is best friends with Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez. She was also close friends with Caroline Forbes since the first grade, although the two have become rivals, mostly due to the competitiveness between them when it comes social status and popularity. Elena has been nicknamed "Ice Princess", for she sometimes possesses the personality trait of being "cold" towards others, however, she does become a much warmer and more compassionate individual in the beginning of the series. Although everyone seems to be convinced of Elena's intelligence, her academic performance actually seems somewhat uneven. Mr. Tanner says that Elena is failing history, and no one corrects him. Elena says she doesn't care if she fails trigonometry. She is enrolled in a General Business class even though she is a Senior. Bonnie comments in Elena's diary when she first died that Elena was far from perfect and while she was never an angel, she died a good person. After Elena is dead (following Katherine's death), Bonnie describes her: She wasn't a saint. She wasn't always sweet and good and honest and agreeable. But she was strong and loving and loyal to her friends, and in the end she did the most unselfish thing anybody could do. Elena's life changed forever when a mysterious and gorgeous new student named Stefan Salvatore enrolls at Robert E. Lee High School. Stefan has an unusual impact on Elena. Elena falls in love with Stefan at first sight. She is immediately, indescribably and undeniably drawn to him and is willing to do whatever it takes to be with him. However, Elena is taken back when Stefan repeatedly avoids her and she is hurt and tortured by this because she has never been ignored by a boy ever before in her life. Because of this, Stefan's challenging ways only make Elena even more intrigued with him and the mystery that comes along with him. Curiosity takes over her in the beginning and she does everything she can to find out all about Stefan with the help of her friends. Her current rival, Caroline Forbes, also takes a significant interest in Stefan as well, causing the rivalry between Caroline and Elena to heat up. Her school reputation is important to her, so she makes up a fake boyfriend to hide the fact that Stefan has rejected her advances. Caroline becomes jealous of Elena when Stefan reciprocates Elena's affections. After "meeting" Stefan, she begins to become enlightened and she starts to become a much more caring and thoughtful person, taking more time to think things through more clearly. Elena is loyal and protective of Stefan and will do anything and everything she can to be with him, including dying for or dying with him. In the beginning of the series, although Elena had everything she wanted in life and was generally content with what she had (despite the loss of her parents), Elena was painfully lonely. However, when she fell in love with Stefan and began to pursue a relationship with him, her loneliness was immediately evaporated away and she became a much happier and content individual. Although Elena possesses the flaws of being too headstrong and sometimes a little selfish, Stefan brings out her best inner qualities and Elena has written in her journal that Stefan makes her an overall much better person. Elena has a deep, strong and passionate romantic relationship with Stefan although, she does realize that she is drawn to Stefan's elder and dangerous brother, Damon Salvatore. Damon has repeatedly tried to influence Elena to join the dark side and be his "Princess Of Darkness" but Elena displays her stoic loyalty to Stefan by defying Damon's wishes. Elena dies several times throughout the series, changing from a mortal Human to a Vampire (after she gets enough blood from both Salvatore brothers, where her killer, Katherine, thought she only got blood from one boy) to a Spirit of the afterlife (after an unknown power brings her back). In The Return: Nightfall, she comes back as a perfectly normal human albeit with supernatural powers intact, making her blood irresistible to all supernatural beings. Elena has an incredibly strong romance/relationship with Stefan Salvatore, which is the basis of the entire series, although in the later books, she starts to fall for Damon as well. Elena has quite a few nicknames: Golden Girl, Angel (used by Stefan only, referring to her appearance), Lovely Love (used by Stefan only), Little Lovely Love (used by Stefan only), Ice Princess, Snow Queen, Ice Queen and Princess Of Darkness (used by Damon). Powers & Abilities As a vampire, Elena had the basic vampire abilities, but due to limited time, she was never able to use all of them to the full extent. However, she did use quite a few: *'Superhuman Senses' - Elena's vision, hearing and smell advanced greater than the average human. *'Super Speed' - Elena could run very fast, and had used this ability when she found out Stefan's life was in serious danger. She and Damon raced to his rescue. *'Telepathy' - Elena was able to communicate to the Salvatore brothers non-verbally. As a human returned from the afterlife, Elena was given special abilities that power her aura. All supernatural beings can see it, so has Damon taught her how to control it and circulate it around her system. Her powers have made her blood irresistible to vampires and other supernatural creatures. *'Superhuman Senses' - Elena has learned to control her senses of hearing, vision, and smell at her own will. *'Telepathy' - Elena can communicate to Stefan, Damon and Bonnie non-verbally. *'Wings of Power' - Elena has several different wings, all powers given to her from the afterlife. Wings Of Protection are strong and, like the name, very useful for Elena to protect herself and whoever is there with her. Wings Of Purification are white in coloring and can remove all sins of a person and their memories; Wings Of Remembrance are violet-blue in color and can return someone's memories. Wings Of Redemption are rainbow-colored and can redeem people of their sins. Wings Of The Wind, which are gold in color, were used to create wind and these wings helped her to fly. ='Biography':= Early History Elena was born and raised in Fell's Church. She had been childhood friends with Caroline Forbes, Meredith Sulez and Bonnie McCullough. When she around 14 to 15 years old, her parents died and she was her little sister Margaret were given custody to Judith Gilbert. The Awakening Elena returned to Fell's Church from France with her Aunt Judith and Margaret, her little sister. On the first day of school, she found herself being watched by a crow sitting in a tree. It spooked her so she threw a rock at it and it flew away. At school, she was greeted by Meredith Sulez, Bonnie McCullough, Caroline Forbes and a group of others just as a Porsche drove into the compound. The driver was a handsome youth who immediately caught the eye of every girl in sight, including Elena, who had a boyfriend already, Matt Honeycutt. The Struggle The Fury Dark Reunion Six months after Elena's death, Bonnie had a dream about herself and Elena having a tea party: :Bonnie commented on Elena's fancy hairstyle and Elena replied that hair was important, and that blood is important too. Elena offered Bonnie some tea and took a bit of her sandwich, but her teeth became covered in mud, with mud oozing out of the sandwich and falling on the tablecloth. Bonnie was horrified at first as Elena's voice and appearance started to change. She attempted to get away as the surroundings changed, but Elena called to her, pleading that Bonnie had to use a spell to contact someone and that Elena already told her the ingredients. Elena tries to tell Bonnie that someone is trying to control and change the dream, but she wasn't as strong as him. Bonnie tries to call to Elena as she drifts away, but wakes up. At Meredith's birthday, Bonnie tells Caroline Forbes, Meredith Sulez, Sue Carson and Vickie Bennett about her dream and they decide to try and contact Elena with an Ouija Board. Elena warned the groups that danger was in the house and that they had to leave. They hastened to do so, but in the midst of the chaos, Sue was killed. The Return: Nightfall A week after Elena's return, her new life starts all over. The spirits decided to start her off as a child. Elena couldn't read, write or talk very well and could only communicate with Stefan telepathically, and even then, what she wanted to say never came out the way she wanted. The Return: Shadow Souls Elena was in her Jaguar, pouring out her feelings and emotions on the recorder in her phone, due to her forgetting her diary in the car truck. Suddenly, there was a loud thud on the roof of the car and Elena exited to find Matt there, squirming to get off. He had been thrown there by Damon, who had been offended by him and they got into an argument Elena had to break up. TV Series .]] In the television series, Elena is portrayed by Nina Dobrev. Elena is a 17 year old high school girl who lives in Mystic Falls, Virginia with her aunt, Jenna Sommers and her younger adoptive brother . She is significantly different than her book counterpart. Several differences are parts of her personality, and her physical appearance. In the novels, Elena has fair skin, blonde hair and eyes the color of Lapis Lazuli. On the TV series, however, Elena has olive skin, long, straight chocolate brown hair and deep brown eyes. In the novels, Elena's personality is slightly shallow and selfish but still a good person but on the TV series, Elena is more kind-hearted, warm and compassionate towards others. On the TV series, Elena is quiet, withdrawn and melancholy. It is revealed that the reason for this is the death of her parents, a few months beforehand. Her friends reveal that before her parents' death, she was active, popular and cheerful, and that her recent change in behavior is due to her loss. As the show progresses, she begins to regain some of her 'pep'; meeting Stefan is part of the reason for this. Elena has been shown to be very protective of her family, very astute, and with high moral standards. She displays deep affection for her friends, and often takes it upon herself to worry about people who don't expect or welcome her concern. Elena is also very stubborn and feisty. She's very direct and prefers to confront people head-on as opposed to keeping her anger bottled up. She displays trust in Stefan, Damon and others, despite their past actions and recent transgressions. Elena is adopted and both of her adoptive parents, Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, died in a tragic car accident (something shared with the novels). Elena finds out that her biological mother is Isobel Saltzman, a 16 year old teenager who gave birth to her, abandoned her and chose to be transformed into a vampire and that her biological father is actually her paternal uncle, John Gilbert, who is Grayson's younger brother. Elena also finds out about her distant lineage and discovers that she is related to and a descendant of Katherine Pierce, the vampire whom both Salvatore brothers fell in love with back in 1864. She is the doppelganger of Katherine, hence why they both bear such a striking resemblance to one another. Category:Vampire Diaries Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Humans Category:Supernatural Category:Gilbert Family Category:Secret-Keepers Category:Novel-Only Characters Category:Main Characters